Axle weight calculations

General information on axle weight calculations

General information on axle weight calcula-

tions
All types of transport work involving trucks require the chassis delivered from the
factory to be supplemented by some form of bodywork.

The purpose of axle weight calculations is to optimise the chassis and the location of
bodywork. This is important so that the maximum payload can be transported with-
out exceeding the maximum permitted axle and bogie weight, taking legal require-
ments and technical limitations into account.

In order to perform load optimisation, information on chassis weights and measure-

ments is required. This information can be found on the vehicle’s chassis drawing,
ICD (Individual Chassis Drawing).

Note:
The difference between the right-hand and left-hand wheel weights on an axle must
not exceed 3% of the total axle weight. An uneven load will cause the vehicle to lean
to one side.

Note:
To ensure that the vehicle has good manoeuvrability, at least 20% of the vehicle
weight should fall on the steered axles. Local regulations may, however, require a
different distribution.

Scania distributors and dealers have a calculation program to aid the optimisation
load and axle weight.

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Axle weight calculations
Axle weight with partial load

Axle weight with partial load

Under certain conditions, a partially laden truck experiences a higher axle weight 1 7
6
than a fully laden truck. The illustration shows an example where the maximum front
9
axle weight is reached when the truck is laden to about 65%. The maximum front 9 000 12 000
axle weight is higher than the maximum permitted weight at 65% load, despite the 11 500
fact that at full load it is lower than the maximum permitted weight. 8 000 2 11 000
7 100
10 000
The illustration also shows that the maximum permitted rear axle weight is never ex- 7 000 9 000
ceeded. 6 000 8 000
When making calculations for e.g. refuse collection trucks, the situation is reversed. 5 000
3 7 000
As they are loaded from the rear, the maximum permitted rear axle weight may be 6 000
exceeded for loads less than full load. 4 000 5 000
3 000 4 5 4 000
2 000 3 000
2 000
1 000 1 000

372 362
8 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 %
Example of axle weight with partial load
1. Load on front axle (kg).
2. Maximum permissible front axle weight.
3. Load curve for front axle.
4. Load curve for rear axle.
5. Highest weight reached on front axle at partial load.
6. Load distribution.
7. Load on rear axle (kg).
8. Size of load as a percentage of maximum permitted load.
9. Maximum permitted rear axle weight.

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Axle weight calculations
Axle weight with partial load

The lever principle

The lever principle can be described with the following example:
The cart’s two ground supports consist of a wheel at one end and a person lifting the 100 kg
cart at the other. When the cargo is placed near the person, they must bear a large
share of the cargo, while the wheel bears a lighter share.
70 kg

317 000
By moving the cargo nearer to the wheel, the load on the wheel increases and person
bears a smaller share of the cargo.
100 kg

20 kg

317 001
If the weight is placed in front of the centre of the wheel, the person will need to push
the cart handles down towards the ground to prevent the cart from tipping forwards.

100 kg
10 kg

317 002
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Axle weight calculations
Axle weight with partial load
The load for the person varies in relation to the position of the cargo on the cart.

When the system is not moving, the sum of all forces and torques equals 0. When
there is a torque equilibrium around the centre of the wheel, the following equation U (kg)
applies:

Cargo · lever = load · lever

TR (kg)
U · C = TR · A

U Load C
=

317 003
A
TR Load (the load’s reaction force on the person)
=

C The distance from the centre of the wheel to the centre of gravity of the
= load

A The distance between the ground supports (centre of wheel and person)
=

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations

Concepts and calculations L102 BL/2 BL/2

Axle weight and bodywork calculations are based on static equilibrium. U

• The sum of the downward forces is equal to the sum of the upward forces. This
means that the sum of the weight of all the truck’s components and its load is
equal to the truck’s axle weights.
• The sum of the torques exerted by the forces of gravity around a point is equal to
the sum of the torques exerted by the reaction forces around the same point. This
is described by the lever principle in the previous section. The wheel in the exam-
ple described in the section The lever principle corresponds to the truck’s front
wheel and the person corresponds to the truck’s rear wheel.

Scania BEP Explanation

code code
- L011 Distance between front axle and first driving axle
- L102 Distance from front axle to bodywork TF C K TR
- L014 Distance between first driving rear axle and theoretical load cen-
tre for the bogie L015
- L015 Theoretical axle distance, distance between front and rear theo- L011 L014

372 875
retical load centres
BL - Load surface (external length of load carrier)
K - Distance between the load carrier’s centre point and centre of
gravity of the load and bodywork or extra weight
C - Distance between the front load centre and centre of gravity of
the load and bodywork or extra weight

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations

Weights and formulae

Use the following formula to calculate the total weight (T): The total weight is the
sum of the chassis weight, any extra weight, and the weight of the load and body-
work.

T=W+N+U

Type of weight: Distributed weight

Front Rear
T Total weight TF TR
=
W Chassis weight WF WR
=
N Extra weight, e.g. crane NF NR
=
U Weight of load and bodywork UF UR
=

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations
In order to achieve equilibrium, the total weight of the load and bodywork (U) mul-
tiplied by its lever (C) should give the same result as the proportion of U that falls on
the centre of gravity of the rear axle (UR), multiplied by the theoretical axle distance
(AT).

Use the following formula to calculate the equilibrium around the front axle:

C · U = AT · UR

Or use the following rewritten formulae:

AT · UR
C= U = UF + UR
U

Calculate C so that you can then calculate the load surface (BL). The location of the
load surface (BL) is generally determined by the deviation (K) being as close to 0 as
possible.

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations
The following information is required to calculate the axle weight:

• Maximum permitted axle weight

• Vehicle weights and axle distances
• Weight of bodywork and any load weight

Calculation Front weight Rear weight (kg) Total weight

(kg) (kg)
Total weighta TF TR T
Chassis weight - WF - WR - W
Extra weight - NF - NR - N
Load + bodywork UF UR U
= = =
a. The total weight is the sum of the chassis weight, any extra weight, and the weight of the load and bodywork.

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations

Calculation example
Example 1: Tractor with 6x2 wheel configuration
U
The aim of this calculation is to find out where the fifth wheel (C) should be located
to obtain the optimum axle weight.

Start the calculation by finding the following facts:

• Maximum permitted axle weight

• Vehicle weights and axle distances

L011 3,950 mm TF C TR
=
L014 = 585 mm L015
L015 L011 + L014 = 4,535 mm
L011 L014

373 966
=

Calculation Front weight (kg) Rear weight (kg) Total weight (kg)
Total weighta TF = 7,100 TR = 19,000 T = 26,100
Chassis weight - WF = 4,790 - WR = 3,350 - W = 8,140
Load + bodywork = UF = 2,310 = UR = 15,650 = U = 17,960
a. The total weight is the sum of the chassis weight, any extra weight, and the weight of the load and
bodywork.

Calculate C using the following calculation:

AT · UR 4,535 · 15,650
C= U = 17,960 = 3,952 mm

In order to take advantage of the maximum permitted axle weights, the fifth wheel
must be positioned 3,952 mm behind the front axle.

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations
Example 2: Truck with crane behind cab and 4x2 wheel configu- L102 BL
ration
The aim of this calculation is to determine the weight distribution of the crane on the N
front and rear axles respectively and a suitable platform length for the bodywork. BL/2 BL/2

Start the calculation by finding the following facts:

• Maximum permitted axle weight U

• Vehicle weights and axle distances
• Weight and centre of gravity of crane

L011 = L015 = 4,950 mm

L102 = Minimum 2,120 mm according to the crane manufacturer’s
information
WF = 4,764 kg
WR = 1,656 kg
N = 2,550 kg TF TR
C

Calculation Front weight Rear weight (kg) Total weight

L011 J

372 915
(kg) (kg)
Total weighta TF = 8,000 TR = 11,500 T = 19,500
Chassis weight - WF = 4,764 - WR = 1,656 - W = 6,420
Equipment, crane - NF = 1,767 - NR = 783 - N = 2,550
Load + bodywork UF = 1,469 = UR = 9,061 = U = 10,530
=
a. The total weight is the sum of the chassis weight, any extra weight, and the weight of the load and
bodywork.

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Axle weight calculations
Concepts and calculations
Calculate C using the following calculation:

AT · UR 4,950 · 9,061
C U C = 10,530 4,259 mm
= =

Enter the shortest possible (AB) measurement to obtain the longest possible load sur-
face (BL) with optimum axle weight distribution.

C = AB + BL/2 4,259 = 2,120 + BL/2 BL/2 = 2,139 mm

The longest possible load surface (BL) with optimum axle weight distribution is
4,278 mm.

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